"A weakened Russia will
bend to the United States" and "We view Russia as a great power."
The first sentence belongs to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. The second, to Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton. The time difference between when they were made is
merely a couple of days.

[Editor's Note: The statement,
"A weakened Russia will bend to the United States" is actually a Wall
Street Journal headline paraphrasing the actual comments of Vice President Biden.]

In the Meet the Press interview with the head of American
diplomacy [watch below], the subject of Russia didn't come up right away.
Clinton first responded to questions about North Korea and Iran. Russia came up
only toward the middle of the conversation. The host quoted a passage of Joe
Biden's interview with The Wall Street
Journal and asked his guest: "Is he speaking for the president, and
is the message essentially that the U.S. now has the upper hand when it's
dealing with Russia?"

The Secretary of State recalled
that after Obama's inauguration, Joe Biden was the first in the administration to
publicly declare in his Munich
speech that, "we wanted to reset our relationship with Russia. And we
know that that's not easily done. It takes time, it takes trust building. And
we want what the president called for during his recent Moscow summit. We
want a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia." Further, Clinton mentioned
the tremendous work taking place between Russia and the United States (reducing
their nuclear arsenals, fighting extremism, the situation surrounding North
Korea and Iran). It was then that she mentioned "the great power." She
then threw a bit of a stone in Biden's direction, who has described the horrors
of Russia's economic situation.

"Now, every country
faces challenges. You know, we have our challenges, Russia has their challenges
… and
the Russians know that, you know, we have continuing questions about some of
their policies, and they have continuing questions about some of ours."

We shouldn't see the
interview as Clinton "telling off" Biden. Rather, it is an adjustment.
And there's also the question of whose words, Clinton's or Biden's, are more
sincere. But what's behind this adjustment?

Perhaps the U.S.
administration get the feeling that Vice President Biden had spoken a bit of nonsense
and decided, given the sensitivity of the Kremlin, to smooth out some of the rough
edges. Particularly since Biden's interview and the Russians reaction that
followed, had many observers talking seriously of how the "reset" in
relations was at risk. Or it could be an attempt by Mrs. Clinton to assert
herself in the area of American diplomacy. Many believe that the vice president,
who previously served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has
pushed the State Department chief to the margins of U.S. foreign policy. And in
light of this, it would seem completely logical for Clinton to "correct"
Biden. One might even suppose that if Biden had had offered a tribute to Moscow,
Clinton would erupt with a Russia critique.

Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US

EXPERT COMMENTARY

Alexander Rahr, program
director for Russia and Eurasia at the German Council on Foreign Relations:

Far
more interesting than the [Wall Street Journal] interview, was Biden's
speech to the Georgian parliament, when the vice president mentioned that
during last year's war in South Ossetia, he was sitting in Tbilisi with
Saakashvili. There's a sense that Biden's playing his own game - because his
speech was so radically different from recent Obama Administration statements.
And the fact that Hillary Clinton has corrected his remarks shows that the
office of the Vice President of the United States, after eight years of Cheney's
vice presidency, has begun to play an independent game. In fact, Biden's same
tough speech to the Georgian parliament has had no effect. The United States has
chosen partnership with Russia. More than at any time in the past 20 years, America
needs Russia. I wouldn't pay any more attention to Biden's comments. Perhaps
this is a reminder to Russia that America doesn't want to lose face. But I
think Biden got his signals crossed womewhere.

Everyone has their own idea of what the U.S. position is,
because the American system is quite complex. Even with the great power and authority
the president holds, he's not an emperor and operates on quite a variety of levels
- the main expression of which is the Congress. The U.S. Congress synthesizes different
groups - ethnic, regional, industrial and others. In this sense, no U.S. president
can make a decision and simply say - "that's it." This is only the
beginning of a complicated process, and Obama must spend his political capital
in order to fully realize it.

With regard to Biden's remarks, he's known as a man,
roughly speaking and to put it bluntly, with a loose tongue. He says a lot of
things that the administration wished he wouldn't. These remarks show the
absence of a single line in America's policy with regard to Russia. Obama's
visit was one of reconnaissance, from which he drew his conclusions, and
someone else [Biden] - his own. I would focus more on Hillary Clinton's views,
but it's worth remembering that Biden is not alone in his assessment.

Clinton expressed Obama's position toward Moscow, and Biden - a
position directed at the traditional allies of Washington. There's no
contradiction. They are merely advertizing different aspects of the same model.
After Obama arrived, the doctrine of American global domination changed. The
U.S. president ceased being a leader of the West who brings the idea of
democracy to its adversaries with fire and sword. Now the United States
president is positioning himself as a leader of the entire world, standing outside
civilizational differences. But at the same time, America cannot turn its back
on its traditional friends. They have an obligation to show that "reset"
or not, friends remain friends, and America won’t trade them in for anyone. To
do this, they need Biden. Speaking in the language of marketing, Biden and
Obama are working on different demographics of the market, promoting the same
goods. Hillary Clinton mediates the incongruities.